Gerrit Hendrik van de Maat1, Annette van der Toorn1, B A. Zonnenberg2, Peter R. Seevinck1, Wouter Bult2, J Frank Nijsen2, Hendrik de Leeuw1, Chris J. Bakker1,3
1Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands; 2Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands; 3Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
The potential of 19F MRI using Single-point imaging (SPI) to monitor the distribution of fluorinated drugs in the eye for treatment of macular degeneration was explored. An ex vivo study of enucleated bovine eyes injected with Perfluorooctylbromide (PFOB) was performed using a SPI technique. Since signal is integrated across the entire spectrum, SPI provides high sensitivity and immunity to chemical shift artifacts which was clearly shown from the results. It also averts the need of fluorine compounds resonating at a single frequency. Therefore 19F single-point imaging promises to provide a useful way of monitoring fluorinated drugs injected into the eye.